Crank

I have had no issues with a Brother HL-5250DN laser printer. I highly recommed this printer (or the newer model). Its a work horse for a small office and toner carts are reasonable with a good life. You can also use aftermarket toner from ebay and amazon for as low as $20. I also have a brother all-in-one inkjet for color print, copy scan & fax. The color injet carts dont last as long so they arent a good choice for high volume printing. I am very pleased that I went with Brother printers about 5 years ago.

Even if you dont change anything, i believe its possible that results could change due to updates processed after the return was filed. Although I do like your idea Taxed.

That would be depressing.

Yep, you have a point

Thats' what I thought. Hopefullly it will continue to evolve which would be great at a discounted price. Personally I dont think its a $1000 product as it is. TaxWorks for the same price is far more advanced. It will be interesting to compare ATX next year after (hopefully) if they have developed beyond the 2012 beta stage.

Well, thank you Taxed. Although you can do watermarks though most printer properties settings, having it in the program is certianly easier.

I cerntainly wouldnt trust TaxExact with an 1120S.

TaxWorks for 2010 & 2011 handled depreciation just fine and I dont believe there was a fixed asset module. Are you sure its needed to handle depreciation. I think the basic 1040 and business packages do it.

I havent found any watermark settings within the Taxwise program. I add them to my printer via the properties section.

You made the corrrect choice Scott. Leaving TRX will save you from possibly deminishing the profesional reputation you obviously worked so hard to create. BTW Taxwise is a nice program and the price was very good through Main Street Tax Solutions however there are other tax progams that others on this forum have decided to go with this year and they seem to be very good too. Thankfully we had some good alternative tax programs to choose from when TRX never delivered The tax software they promised (Redgear's TaxWorks)and then so adamantly proclaimed TaxExact would be fully function (Federal, State & Business returns) by the time the IRS started accepting returns in late January 2013. Also, purchasing anything with a credit card is almost always the right move for me. It adds an additional layer of consumer protection. The credit card companies should be able to easily identify the deception of this purchase.

Thank you cbslee. I will look into it. Im sure they signed the required docs though. They are the type that doesnt want to know any thing about the returns other than refund or payment and would have probably signed almost anything thinking it was just to file the return. I know the other preparer and he passes the majority of the client contact (and data input) off to his staff who aren't certified as he is. He mostly reviews returns and signs off.

I have a client that went to another preparer last year. It wasnt a pleasant experience and had extensions filed on all their returns. The returns were filed at the last minute and communication was minimal according to the client. They returned to me this year. I charged 50% of what the other preparer charged them. According to them the other preparer, without their knowlege or consent (they say), elected 1120s treatment for their single member LLC which since inception remained a "disregarded entity" reported on their 1040. So to return the 1120S election to a "disregared entity" I read that a letter must be sent to the IRS before 3/15 for it to be effective this year (i.e. 2012 tax year). The problem is that Pennsylvania will not allow the switch until 5 years have passed. So do we wait the 5 years and continue to file as an 1120S or change the federal back and file as an 1120S type for Pa. for the remain time period. Having a tax different treatment for federal and state doesnt seem the best and it would appear to be very confusing. Comments are appreciated.

I have a client that owns two well known food franchises (is also a personal friend) for the past 5 or so years. Last year the partner who was responsible for keeping the books left and handed that responsibilty off to another significant partner. Apparently the partner who previously did the books didnt leave on good terms. Well, yesterday they dropped off a large plastic box (I know I titled the post shoebox, but it was much larger) of invoices for me to sort through to prepare their 2012 tax return. After picking my jaw up off the floor I told them that I couldnt prepare their taxes with the documentation in this condition. I looked at it and many invoices werent clear as to what they were. I dont do writeup nor do I have the time for it NOW. Also I dont want the responsibility (and possiblle liability) for coming up with their tax numbers, even if they are signing the return. Im just not willing to take that risk. Needless to say they left disappointed. I told them to try quickbooks but they said they werent very good with computer software. So I gave them a list of categories that had been used in previous years. I also gave them a copy of LibreOffice and a template to record the category totals. I can believe they were operating two business locations for 2012 without knowing how they were performing and at least comparing to prior periods. Or any type of financial analysis for that matter. I dont think I lost a client but they looked like I was speaking Greek to them. They said they would get an employee to get everything together and get back to me. Just wondering what others would have done in a simialr situation.

Same here Kea. We all should discuss the various tax programs for 2013 on this board after this tax season ends.

This bothers me too. I aways open up prior years returns when working on the current return. TaxWorks was the best package IMO. Im hoping they can do a deal for us on the 2013 package. Anyone else in?

your welcome. the school codes are in the pa-40 instructions. You will also need a PSD code for the local. The taxpayer may have received a local form in the mail with the required info. check the docs or ask if they have it...much easier

Pa. has a flat tax rate of 3.06% for 2012. Remember to include inerest, dividends, cap gains (not losses), other income, no iras/pensions. See instructions for form PA-40 here. http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/personal_income_tax/14692 Also a LOCAL taxing authority tax return is required, based on where primary residence is located (pro rated for time in Pa.). Last time I checked TRX didn not have the local taxing authority form. You can use a generic form for the local. You may get more infor here on the locals. http://www.hab-inc.com/ and/or here: http://www.keystonecollects.com/

I was with ATX for about 15 years. Yes you get what you pay for, Im sure you agree wiht that statement as it applies to your 2012 version of ATX also.

TaxWorks was great, but they rewrote their software for 2012 and have had their issues this year. I too was with ATX from about 1996-2010 and then went to TRX and got TaxWorks. TRX shipped their inhouse software called TaxExact this year which wasnt even good enough to be called a beta. Went with TaxWise (sold by mainstreettaxsolutions.com) last week and Im running and up to date....after one very looooong week. Its a learning curve but not difficult. Tax software for 2013? Who knows. Taxwise is a contender if they dont rewrite the software. Drake is out of my price range since I only do ~100 1040's and a handfull of 1120S's. I may consider TaxWorks and ATX if they get their act together for 2013, but ATX is looking like a longshot. TaxSlayer is an option also. I hear its very good.

hope you will consider TaxWorks in the future. Well, if the 2013 version of TaxWorks is as good as the 2011 and prior versions I would consider it if the price was right. We have been spoiled getting TaxWorks at <$350 for the past few years ... but I really liked it. Maybe offering a good price to users of this forum would get you a lot of people purchasing nex year TaxWorks.

thanks Kea!

Taxwise is a bit different than TaxWorks (and ATX) but it gets the job done. The first few returns are always the hardest until you find your way around. Check out the training videos they are short and very helpful, especially for the file process which can be a bit confusing.

Yes, Thank you Eric, for this Taxwise section!

Nope, Just the F1 as far as I can tell.

Thanks.